In the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours, the section discussing the Intercessions says that it is appropriate to add personal petitions, especially during evening prayer. It is suggested that we add these just before the final intercession which is usually about praying for the souls of the dead.
Don't worry about composing a fancy, two part intercession that matches the language of the ones in the breviary. I'm sure that something simple such as "For Mary to recover from her surgery" or "for the conversion of John", or "for relief from depression for George" or "For all the people on Facebook who have requested prayers--I forgot the specifics but You know them all, Lord" are all perfectly good extra intercessions to add to the more formal ones.
Also, when you pray any part of any of the hours, sometimes a particular line of a psalm will remind you of someone you know and their needs. "My soul is filled with evils" or "Rescue me, Lord,from my foes" might remind you of a friend who is having a rough time. That mental association is in itself a prayer for that person, since you are joining him or her to a psalm that the church prays on behalf of its suffering members.
This gave me an idea. The column on the right indicates that 293 people have signed up to follow this blog through the google/blogger platform. There are others who subscribe through email or feedly or some other method. Most of us are not personally acquainted, but our love for the Liturgy of the Hours is a bit of a bond among us. So I was thinking of trying a post where any of you could post prayer intentions,and the rest of us could try to remember to include those either in our personal intercessions at evening prayer, or by making a general intention to remember these needs at one of the other hours that we pray.
So...if you have any prayer intentions that you wish to share with our little community, put them in the comments below. I'll run this a couple of times, and if it appears to catch on, I'll make it a regular thing.
Don't worry about composing a fancy, two part intercession that matches the language of the ones in the breviary. I'm sure that something simple such as "For Mary to recover from her surgery" or "for the conversion of John", or "for relief from depression for George" or "For all the people on Facebook who have requested prayers--I forgot the specifics but You know them all, Lord" are all perfectly good extra intercessions to add to the more formal ones.
Also, when you pray any part of any of the hours, sometimes a particular line of a psalm will remind you of someone you know and their needs. "My soul is filled with evils" or "Rescue me, Lord,from my foes" might remind you of a friend who is having a rough time. That mental association is in itself a prayer for that person, since you are joining him or her to a psalm that the church prays on behalf of its suffering members.
This gave me an idea. The column on the right indicates that 293 people have signed up to follow this blog through the google/blogger platform. There are others who subscribe through email or feedly or some other method. Most of us are not personally acquainted, but our love for the Liturgy of the Hours is a bit of a bond among us. So I was thinking of trying a post where any of you could post prayer intentions,and the rest of us could try to remember to include those either in our personal intercessions at evening prayer, or by making a general intention to remember these needs at one of the other hours that we pray.
So...if you have any prayer intentions that you wish to share with our little community, put them in the comments below. I'll run this a couple of times, and if it appears to catch on, I'll make it a regular thing.
